The prince represented to his father his views on the subject, which were instantly adopted--a question of taste in that family meets with no opposition--and all was to have been arranged according to the ideas of the heir of France, who seemed inclined to make Pau an abode at a _future day_: the King was to have visited the interesting old castle: much animated discussion and much enthusiasm prevailed on the subject in the interior of the royal circle, and the Berceau of Henri Quatre seemed destined to proud days again.
"When, hush! hark! a deep sound comes like a rising knell!" The wail of a whole nation tells that that _anticipated future_ may not come! A cloud has again gathered over the valley of the Gave, and a sad pause--the pause of blighted hopes--has chilled the expectations in which Bearn had ventured to indulge.
But the castle is not, even now, neglected: the architects are still there; workmen are still busy, chiseling and planing; the beautiful arabesques and reliefs are coming forth to view, restored with all their original delicacy: the ceilings are glowing with fresh gilding, the walls are bright with fresh tapestry, and the rooms are newly floored.
But for the dreadful event which must cast a gloom over France for some years, the castle would, probably, have been sufficiently put in order for a royal visitor this year; but all the magnificent furniture, sent down from Paris to fit up the _suite_ intended for use, now stands unarranged, and a stop is put to embellishment.

Amongst the most curious and interesting pieces of this furniture, are the bed and chair of Jeanne d'Albret, her screen--perhaps worked by her own hand--and the bed of Henry II.: all fine specimens of art in this style; the latter, in particular, is quite unique, and is one of the most curious I have ever seen: the sculpture is very elaborate; at the foot reclines, in relief, a Scotch guard, such as always lay at the threshold of the sovereign, at the period when this piece of furniture was made.

An owl of _singular expression_ sits watching, opposite, surrounded by foliage and poppies, quite in character with the sleepy scene: the posts of the bedstead are beautifully turned: it is so formed as to draw out and close in, forming a _bed by night_, _a cabinet by day_; and the carved arch at the back is sculptured in the most exquisite manner.

A _prie-Dieu_ of the same date is near; but all this furniture is merely _housed_ for the present, as nothing is arranged; one, of course, looks at these specimens with an admiration which has nothing to do with Henri Quatre's castle, as they would be equally well placed in M.de Somerard's museum, at the delightful Hotel de Cluny.
A tapestry screen, said to be of the time of Charles VII., has a place in this heterogeneous collection: it represents the Maid of Orleans, crowned by victorious France, whose _lilies_ are restored, and her enemies trampled under her feet; in the back-ground is the sea, with strange-looking monsters huddled into its waves, in apparent terror: these are the Leopards of England taking flight from the shores of France.

The colours are well preserved in this piece of work, and the whole composition deserves to be remarked, if not for the correctness of its drawing, for the _naivete_ of its details.
It might have been better to have filled the castle with furniture belonging exclusively to the time, or anterior to that of Henry IV.; and it struck me that much which has arrived from Paris, of the period of Louis XIV., is out of keeping with the _souvenirs_ of the castle of Pau.
I almost hope that, if ever it is entirely restored, these pieces of furniture will be banished, and others, more antique, substituted.